Ananda Marchildon, la modelo a la que despidieron por engordar, ha ganado el juicio a la agencia francesa Elite y Mastermodel

Ananda Marchildon, despedida por gorda

Ananda Marchildon, la modelo a la que despidieron por gorda, ha ganado el juicio a la agencia francesa Elite y Mastermodel. La canadiense ganó el Hollands Next Top Model en 2008 pero sus 94 cm de cadera eran demasiados para la pasarela por lo que la obligaron a reducirlos si pretendía desfilar. No consiguió bajar a 90 cm (lo que la requerían) y por lo tanto, las agencias dejaron de pagarla, así que ella decidió denunciarles por impago.

Dutch-Canadian model wins 'big hips' lawsuit Quebec-born model says Elite agency changed its hip size requirements  The Canadian Press Posted: Mar 8, 2012 7:47 AM ET Last Updated: Mar 8, 2012

A former winner of the TV show Holland's Next Top Model has won a lawsuit against Elite Model Management after she was dropped for having hips the agency considered too large.

The Amsterdam District Court ruled 25-year-old Ananda Marchildon is entitled to the prize she won in the 2008 show — a three-year contract worth more than $98,000.

Marchildon holds dual Dutch and Canadian citizenship and she was born in Hull, Que., just across the river from Ottawa. She argued she was dismissed after only $13,000 worth of work because she didn't lose enough weight to please the agency.

"They promise you all these things. But at the end of the day, when the spotlight is gone you're left, apparently with nothing," Marchildon told the CBC's Ashley Burke Thursday as she was on the road to Amsterdam.

Modelling agencies criticized

The fashion industry has often faced criticism for creating unrealistic expectations about women's bodies and forcing models to undergo harmful diets.

Modelling agencies say they respond to the demands of advertisers, and ultimately, clothing customers.

Marchildon said the agency changed its requirements after she signed the contract, then said her hips did not fulfill those demands.

"They told me that my hip size wasn't right enough. I won the contract with a hip size of 94 cm and when I leave, models took over the company, [and] they changed it to be 90 cm," she said.

"You think it's only 4 cm, but on a body that's a lot, and apparently my body can't do that.

Dutch underwear company Sloggi hired Marchildon for a one-time shoot Monday to show that she is still fit for modelling work. A company official says Marchildon is a beautiful woman and shouldn't have to starve herself.

Her mother, Tenneke, said it is unjustified to ask women to maintain hips under 90 centimetres.

"These girls are way too skinny. The sizes they are looking for are not sizes for adult women, they are sizes for pre-pubescent girls, 14-year-olds," she said over the phone from Wormer, the Netherlands.

Marchildon is currently working as a cabinet maker in the the Netherlands.

Skinny Dutch model Ananda Marchildon fired for hips exceeding 90cm (Updated: 06 Feb 2012) 

A winner of Holland's Next Top Model is suing her agency for refusing to give her the full prize money because they say she is ''too fat''. Ananda Marchildon said she had only received €10,000 ($12,260) of the €75,000 contract she was promised after winning the competition in 2008, aged 21. 

She was also stripped of her title. The six-foot model claims she was sacked by Elite Model Management because her hips exceeded their maximum limit of 89.9 centimetres; the average European woman has 102.9-centimetre hips. Her lawyers argue the agency is obliged to work with Marchildon ''as she looked in the final'' rather than retrospectively forcing her to conform to their rules. 

The case has reignited a debate about the extent to which young women are expected to adhere to near-impossible physical standards. Dieuwke Levinson-Arps, representing Marchildon, claims her client was told by a lawyer working for Elite that she was sacked because ''although she has a nice face, she has a fat arse'' and ''she never had it in her to become a top model because she was unsuitable for catwalk work''. 

She said Marchildon had ''no chance'' of having 89.9-centimetre hips, even with a strict diet and exercise regime. ''Already she was very skinny, almost anorexically skinny.'' Ms Levinson-Arps said. Suing Elite for unfair dismissal, Marchildon wants them to pay out the remaining €65,000 she says she was promised for winning the show. 

Elite is contesting the claim. Wikke Kootstra, a lawyer for Elite, said: ''It was impossible for Elite to find [Marchildon] modelling jobs since she wasn't in the required shape.'' Asked about a preferred hip measurement of 89.9 centimetres, Elite's counsel said: ''Couture clothing is made in one size only: (tres tres) petite. This is not something agencies can change. I imagine they would welcome such a change since it would make their job so much easier.'' A court judgment is expected next month.

Holland's next Top Model winner accuses top agency of firing her for having hips that were just TWO CENTIMETRES too wide By TAMARA ABRAHAM UPDATED: 10:46 GMT, 8 February 2012 
A former winner of Holland's Next Top Model has claimed she was dropped by her modelling agency for having hips that were two centimetres too wide. 
Ananda Marchildon, who was awarded a three-year contract with Elite Models when she won the fourth season of the show in 2009, filed a lawsuit against the agency last week. The 25-year-old alleges that bookers expected models to have a maximum hip width of 90cm, and that she was let go because hers were too large at 92cm, Nymag.com reports. 
She says that she was told by a booker that she had 'a nice face, [but] a fat arse,' and that she 'never had it in her to become a top model because she was unsuitable for catwalk work.' Miss Marchildon's lawyers say that Elite fired the 25-year-old after just two of the three years she had been contracted to work with them. They also allege that she was paid just 10,000 Euros, instead of the 75,000 Euros she had been promised as part of her prize. The reality star, who is demanding that she be paid the rest of her winnings, claims she was even stripped of her Holland's Next Top Model title. 
A response to the suit from a lawyer representing Elite indicates that Miss Marchildon's figure could well have been an issue when it came to finding her modelling work. 
They told Nymag.com: 'It was impossible for Elite to find [Marchildon] modelling jobs since she wasn't in the required shape.' The lawyer went on to explain that the couture labels that the agency provides models for create sample garments in one size only, and that is small - an issue that is beyond an agency's control. Further complicating the suit, Elite says that Miss Marchildon was never signed with them in the first place. Elite claims that she was actually signed with a smaller agency on winning Holland's Next Top Model, and that it used its affiliation with the larger firm to help generate more exposure and work for her.